Financial news

Wildermuth joined Credit Suisse from Goldman in July last year in the wake of a $5.5bn loss from the collapse of family office Archegos Capital.

Nicolas Friedman is joining the Swiss bank as chief risk officer for markets and its investment banking and capital markets unit, according to a memo sent to staff seen by Financial News.

He was head of credit risk for Goldman’s sales and trading business and worked at the US bank for 18 years.

Craig Bricker, another Goldman executive, has been hired to take control of a new risk analytics and solutions group, which Wildermuth said would be “key enabling components for the transformation”.

Ben Wilkinson, who is currently chief risk officer for Credit Suisse’s investment bank, will take the same position within its wealth management function. Greg Frenzel has been promoted to chief credit risk officer.

READ Damning Archegos report slams ‘lackadaisical’ attitude to risk at Credit Suisse

The Swiss bank has also created a new team, which is focused on reputational risk, among other factors, after being rocked by a series of scandals that have hammered its share price over the past two years.

In the aftermath of a spying scandal on former executives, Credit Suisse unveiled its links to collapsed family office Archegos in March last year, which would eventually cost it $5.5bn.

Thomas Herrmann has been named head of the newly formed corporate risk team, which combines reputational, sustainability and climate risk. Anne-Claude Rouiller will become global head of reputational risk, reporting to Herrmann.

On 27 October, Credit Suisse unveiled a radical overhaul of its business that will see 9,000 jobs cut and $35bn in risk-weighted assets hived off into a ‘bad bank’ to be wound down over time. The cuts are expected to hit its investment bank hardest, a division that has been at the centre of successive losses.

Wildermuth said the changes would “equip us to support this transformation. Risk has and will continue to ensure the bank’s long-term success by providing proactive and effective risk management.”

He has been shaking up Credit Suisse’s risk function since joining the bank in July last year in an attempt to turn a corner after Archegos.

In a damning 172-page report into Credit Suisse’s Archegos links, lawyers accused the bank of hollowing out its risk management function and a “lackadaisical attitude towards risk and risk discipline” that was focused on “maximising short-term profits”.

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